The father of disgraced ex-congressman Duncan D. Hunter said his son’s presidential pardon was justified.
“I think it’s the last measure of justice you have after going through the court, is the president,” Duncan L. Hunter said.
On Tuesday, Pres. Donald Trump pardoned Duncan D. Hunter, who pleaded guilty in December to misusing $150,000 in campaign finances, paying for golf outings, plane tickets and a vacation to Italy, according to prosecutors, even plane tickets to bring the family’s pet rabbit to Washington, D.C.
“This is something prosecutors charged as a felony -- not as a fine but as a felony,” said the elder Hunter.
To those who do not believe his son was unfairly prosecuted, Hunter directs them to a letter to Trump from Bradley Smith, the former chairman of the Federal Election Commission.
“It says this should not have been charged in federal court,” Hunter said.
Though a presidential pardon allows an offense to pass without punishment, it is not a declaration of innocence.
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Was his son guilty of anything, even making a mistake, given that he was accused of spending campaign finance money on an alleged affair?
“I don’t do National Enquirer questions about personal life; that’s not what this prosecution was about," the senior Hunter told NBC 7. "The prosecution pretended to be about the law. Let’s stick with the law.”
The law allows his son to run for office again. Hunter said about his son: “Is this someone who has served this country and has more national service to give? I would say yes, this is what helped make America."
Trump issued another series of pardons on Wednesday, including one for Margaret Hunter. Last year, she pleaded guilty to a single corruption count of misspending more than $150,000 in campaign funds on a variety of purchases.
